It’s like biko but better. Cook the glutinous rice in coconut milk. Spread in a greased baking dish, top with salted caramel, sprinkle with desiccated coconut and bake. It’s so good. But to really do this sweet dish right, it’s best to soak the rice for several hours prior to cooking. And you have to make the caramel using coconut cream instead of the usual dairy cream. That way, the coconut flavor is multiplied by three.

I spent Friday and Saturday with girl friends from law school and among the many dishes we enjoyed was a bowl of delectable corned beef sinigang at the Old Swiss Inn. Delicious soup plus delightful company and I thought I’d redo my old corned beef sinigang post and transpose it into recipe format and replace the old cooking tip.

Sometimes, a “same old, same old” dish becomes something spectacular with just the right accessory. Take grilled eggplants, for example. Although they are flavorful enough by themselves especially when dipped in spicy vinegar, they sure can get a lift. Spoon creamed broccoli over them and you have a meatless dish that is colorful with more complex flavors and texture.

Filipino comfort food with a twist. The dishes are mouthwateringly delicious but when you combine that with the experience of dining in the midst of eye-popping art work, the meal becomes something unforgettable. That’s KUS: private dining with art and artists. How we found ourselves there is quite a story.

A lovely summery dish, chili chicken with fresh pineapple (pininyahang manok for you Filipino readers) has bold and vibrant flavors and colors. The browned chicken is braised in a mixture of coconut milk the natural juices that the pineapple expels during cooking.

Barbecued balon-balonan ng manok, or chicken gizzards, is a popular street food in the Philippines. Along with barbecued chicken feet, pork ears and isaw (intestines), it is a favorite finger food that goes well with beer. I find them too tough though. So, on January of 2004 when my blog was less than a year old, I did a home-cooked version—definitely tastier and oh, so tender too! But that blog post had a terrible photo. And the recipe wasn’t formatted either to comply with today’s web standards. So, here’s an updated recipe accompanied by better photos.

When we crave vegetable soup but we don’t want to go through the rigmarole of peeling and chopping various vegetables, we switch to the default—miso soup. Because it is already tasty and beautifully textured, it doesn’t need a chorus of ingredients to make it sing. Subtly sweet white asparagus is combined with grassy-tasting spinach to make this wonderful white asparagus and miso soup. Cooks in less than 10 minutes. Absolutely wonderful.